Artificial ice rink



Nov. 6, 1956 c. A. MEADOWS ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK Filed April 14, 1954 k ii 5 Sheets-Sheet l N v E. N T n R a Mia/ab A MfADOn s Nov. 6, 1956 c. A. MEADOWS ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed AprJ:.l 14, 1954 INYENTOR CA/f/ORD 14. MIEADOWS 1956 c. A. MEADOWS ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK Sheets-Sheet Filed April 14. 1954 I N V E N T O R (un o/v0 4; Mf/VDOI/S Nov. 6, 1956 C. A. M EADOWS ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 14, 1954 CZ/f/URD '4 #5400145 Nov- 6, 1 A. MEADOWS I 2,769,315

ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK Filed April 14, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United rates Patent @fiice 2,769,315 Patented Nov. 6, 1956 ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK Clifford A. Meadows, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application April 14, 1954, Serial No. 423,107

9 Claims. (Cl. 6212) This invention relates to artificial ice surfacing apparatus for a pick-up type of ice rink.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an artificial ice surfacing apparatus which can be laid down as and when required upon a smooth level surface and which can be readily removed from such surface and compactly stored during any period when the surface is to be used for other purposes.

In a more particular sense, it is a further object to provide a reticulated freezing apparatus of such character that the conduits forming the heat-extracting portion of the installation can be laid down upon prepared ground and connected to side-line headers, and then when ice is no longer required, can be taken up again and stored in a small space, leaving the previously iced area free from obstruct-ions and in condition to be used for other purposes to which its surface is by nature and/ or design suited.

In a further aspect the reticulated network .of heatabsorbing heat-exchanger comprising an array of elon gated conduits of flexible material each terminated by respective high and low side header couplings, supports for res-training the conduits in a predetermined arrangement upon an area to be ice-surfaced, and fragmentary arrays of shields arranged to cover the said conduits on their top sides and to reside thereon detachably in restraint by any suitable means such as retaining clips associated with said supports.

In a selected arrangement said retaining clips may be mounted upon relatively short support bars which are positioned upon the ground or upon supplementary beams or floats according to the nature of the surface. involved. They are laid down in rows to provide evenly spaced supports and fixing-points for the flexible conduit pipes so as to retain the pipes in a uni-form array of heat ab-.

sorbing agencies to provide a maximum .and uniform heat absorbing pattern within the water which shall surround them when in use. I

The arrays of shields have a two-fold. use. In one aspect they protect the pipes against mechanical damage in the event that the ice is pierced by a sharp object such as a skate. .The conduit-s being flexible are, in a preferred form of the invention, comprised of a plastic material .and if the water before freezing is characterized 'by strong circulating currents, the heat absorbing ability of such plastic materials is not high in the presence of such currents. The shields are desirably made of metal and therefore have good conductivity.

When-it is desired to remove the heat-exchanger from the prepared surface, it is a simple matter to fragmentate the whole system piece by piece, removing the shields from the conduits and the conduits from their clips. The conduit assembly can in turn be dismantled, each stretch of flexible pipe being disconnected from the headers and stored in stretched out disposition within a storage tunnel or other housing means.

The invention is also adapted for use in connection with a swimming pool. In this application, the clips and/or supports may be mounted upon a framework of cross-beam floats and side-rails suspended near the surface of the pool. The conduits and shields are then simply installedin the manner already disclosed for a ground-rink.

The invention will 'now be more intimately elucidated by reference to the following description of a typical construction in accordance with my teachings. The text should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section of a pick-up skating rink constructed in accordance with the instant invention.

Figure 2 is a part-section of the construction viewed along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1, showing headers and pipe connections.

Figure 3 is an elevation in section along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1, showing a storage tunnel detail.

Figure 4 is a section along the lines 44 of Figure 2, showing details of apertured tunnel support footings.

Figure 5 is a detail of a conduitU-fitting and of a clip support member and shield.

Figure 6 is a detail in section of clip support member and shield assemblies as viewed along the lines 6-6 of Figure 5. V

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a shield.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a clip seen on a fragment of a support.

Figure 9 shows how a plurality of shields can be stacked compactly for storage.

Figure 10 is a detail of one complete conduit element forming part of the array schematically depicted in Figurel.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary plan view of 1a rink heat absorption system in accordance with the invention and modified for installation at the surface of a water pool.

Figure 12 is' a side elevation in section of the construction depicted in Figure '11.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary view of a float beam showing how the clips may be supported thereon.

Figure 14 is a plan view of the swimming pool showing how the floating beams are arranged for support of the flexible conduits. V

Figure is a section on line 1'51 5 of Figure 14, and

Figure 16 is a section on line 16 -16 of Figure 14.

Referring now to these drawings, 1 is a surface to be iced and should preferably be rolled substantially fiat. It may be a playing field of any kind such as a baseball diamon-dor a rugby field, or on the other hand it might be a concrete surface. According to the present invention, there is provided a header tunnel 9, a storage tunnel 7, and platform walkways 10, 11. A machine house 8 may be located near the area 1 to contain the motor driven pump and controls, adjacent to which is a brine storage tank 8' or other coolant storage tank, which is sunk in the ground. Whereas the machinery in house 8 may be of conventional design and possesses no novelty per se, such apparatus is of course necessary in association with the invention in order to render it useful in the field of utility.

The header tunnel 9 houses the two headers or manifolds 2, 3 each fitted with a plurality of evenly spaced fittings to receive the couplings 12, 13 of the individual absorption heat-exchanger elements 4. Each element 4 of the array comprises two thin walled plastic tubes terminating at their outer end in a U-shaped tubular fitting 14 of the metal type, each of whose arms sleeves into an end of a plastic tube in liquid tight relation.

In proceeding to assemble the piping system of this invention the area 1 is first covered by an array of clip supports 5, each fixedly supporting a series of evenly spaced clips 6. The clips are spaced so that the plastic pipes 4 are spaced reasonably evenly over the whole area. In the example depicted in Figure 1 the support bars or strips 5 are shown as laid out in staggered rows with a small overlap at the ends. This gives added strength to the completed array. However, the suggested arrangement of the support bars or strips is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, inasmuch as such arrangement could be modified as circumstances dictate, as for instance, an end to end relation of these bars or strips could be employed. The supports 5 are desirably flat, narrow strips of sheet metal, and the clips 6 desirably are U-shaped members fashioned as sheet metal stampings and spot welded in place.

The' flexible plastic tubes 4' are.covered by snap-on shields 15. These are so formed that they fit. rather loosely over the plastic pipes and are sleeved between the pipes and the inside surfaces of the clips 6 so that the clips retain both the shield and the pipes at the same time. It will also be evident that the shields not only protect the pipes 4 but also render them substantially rigid when assembled into an array. The shields are preferably vented by holes 15 to prevent ice-locks which might otherwise cause the shields to spring away from the tubes during the crystallizing phase of the freezing process.

I The legs of the clips 6 are bent inwardly to slightly converge, and the shields 15 are desirably of a U-shape in cross section and their side walls diverge slightly so that the shields can be stacked in nested relation as represented in Figure 9. By relatively dimensioning the clips and the shields width-wise they are made to interfit with a clip on action such as to be securely interlocked.

The header tunnel is firmly supported at intervals on masonry footings 16 consisting of standard building blocks 'which are apertured as shown in Figure 4 and these apertures allow the conduits 4- to pass through them. The tunnel may also be anchored to the ground in any suitable manner, such as by posts 17 which in turn may form the supports for an enclosing fence. Where the installation is on a tennis court the existing screen support posts may be used, but this perv se does not form a part of the invention.

Figures 11 to 16 inclusive show the construction adapted for installation in a swimming pool or the like. In this case the clips 6 are mounted upon hollow sealed beams 18 containing air. A sufficientnumber of these are used to float the conduit array just below the surface of the pool. The beam-floats may be retained in any desirable mannerand to this end frame or rail elements 19 may beemployed. 'j These may comprise wedging elements 21- of fa com'pressible, character to allow for expansion and contraction oftheassembly and at the same time to restrain the assembly from loose movement while the pool surface is freezing.

The modified form of the invention enables a conventional swimming pool to be quickly and easily converted into an ice rink of a pick-up character suitable for dismantling at the end of the skating season so that the components .may be stored ready for use again.

According to. the. invention it is not necessary to construct "a permanent'ha'rd surface area in a playing field such as a baseball diamond or a rugby field, and therefore summer sports are not interfered with by the conversion of such an area for winter sports. Moreover the apparatus is comparatively inexpensive.

It will now be evident that a unique departure from current practice in artificial icing equipment has been evolved, wherein the heat translating element of the system has been contrived to be readily removable from the subject surface leaving its character unimpaired for another sphere of utility. It is further evident that this object has been achieved without sacrificing either efficiency or convenience in the operation of the icing system.

In a still further aspect the heat absorbing array can be fragmented into small lightweight elements that lend themselves to ease of handling and compact storage. The tubes 4 can be either laid out in a neat pile on the storage tunnel floor for storage during the non-use period. The shields 15 may be stacked for storage as shown in Figure 9 and it is evident that these may be stowed compactly in the storage tunnel. The clip supports 5 may be stacked'on topof the other parts so as to be first accessible when theequipment is re-assembled foruse.

The system shown in Figures 11 to 16 inclusive employs underground storage facilities at 22 and the headers are also Ibelowrground level in tunnel 23 which is seen to be at the top of tunnel 22 A closure 24 covers the whole arrangement and is removed when itis required to gain access to the tunnels. This same arrangement could of course be used in connection with the embodiment described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 inclusive.

Other modifications and choices of form and material for the basic elements of the invention are possible and will occur to thoseskilled in the art. All such are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the appended claims. v e

What is claimed is: I

1. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating apparatus including feed and return headers; a knock-down construction of an absorbing heat exchanger assembled upon a supporting surface of a predetermined areahaving a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink, said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, and retaining devices detachably associated with said refrigerating tubing and spaced at intervals along the length thereof for maintaining the parallel reaches thereof in their spaced disposition.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, in which the spaced parallel reaches of the tubing are made up of co-extensive lengths of the tubing joined in pairs at one end by U-shaped fittings, each pair" having one of its lengths coupled at the other end to the feed header and the other length coupled to the return header.

3. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating 'apparatus including feed and return headers; a knock-down construction of an absorbing heat exchange assembledupon a supporting surface of a predetermined area having a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink; said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, and a distributed arrangement of spacing devices for maintaining the several reaches of the tubing in their spaced disposition, said spacing devices comprising plate-like strips of rigid material for extending across a plurality of the reaches, and elements on said strips for flanking the reaches which are crossed by the individual strips.

4. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating apparatus including feed and return headchanger assembled upon a supporting surface of a predetermined area having a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink, said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, and a distributedarrangement of spacing devices for maintaining the several reaches of the tubing in their spaced disposition, each spacing device comprising a plate-like strip interposed loosely between the supporting surface and a plurality of the reaches, said strip being arranged crosswise of the reaches and having clip-forming elements thereon, each clip being adapted to embrace a reach overlying the strip.

5. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating apparatus including feed and return headers; a knock-down construction of an absorbing heat exchanger assembled upon a supporting surface of a predetermined area having a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink, said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, retaining devices detachably associated with said refrigerating tubing and spaced at intervals along the same for maintaining the parallel reaches in their spaced disposition, and thin, rigidwalled shield plates extending lengthwise of the refrigerating tubing and supported thereover, said shield plates being of a width sufficient to shield the top part of the refrigerating tubing against being cut by a skate.

6. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating apparatus including feed and return headers; a knock-down construction of an absorbing heat exchanger assembled upon a supporting surface of a predetermined area having a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink, said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, retaining devices for maintaining the refrigerating tubing with its component reaches in general parallel relation, and thin, rigid-walled shields extending lengthwise of the refrigerating tubing in series and removably supported over the refrigerating tubing, said shields being bent in cross section to conform generally to the curvature of the refrigerating tubing.

7. A structure as set forth in claim 6, in which the retaining devices include clips having arms at the sides of the refrigerating tubing, and in which the shields are U-shaped members invertedly arranged over the refrigerating tubing and engaged between the companion arms of clips aforesaid.

8. In a pick-up artificial ice rink provided with a basic refrigerating apparatus including feed and return headers; a knock-down construction of an absorbing heat exchanger assembled upon a supporting surface of a predetermined area having a retaining curbing for confining a shallow body of water for conversion into an ice rink, said absorbing heat exchanger comprising thin-walled refrigerating tubing of pliant material laid in a general uniform manner upon said supporting surface with suitably spaced parallel reaches and having ingress and egress couplings connected to said headers, arcuate shield plates extending lengthwise of the refrigerating tubing to cover the top and upper parts of the sides thereof, and means retaining said shield plates in situ and providing for their ready removal.

9. A structure as set forth in claim 8, in which the shield plates are U-shaped in cross section and having divergent side walls which enable the shield plates to be stacked in nested relation for storage when not in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 515,979 De Stoppani Mar. 6, 1894 1,883,958 Koeniger Oct. 25, 1932 1,968,144 Hamilton July 31, 1934 2,069,811 Baer Feb. 9, 1937 2,615,308 Thorns Oct. 28, 1952 

